Samsung to be sole supplier for 2020 Apple iPhone OLED display

Ever since Apple started using OLED panels on their iPhones, the models have consistently been winning accolades as some of the best smartphone displays in the market. Currently, Apple sources their OLED panels from Samsung, LG and BOE, in-line with the company’s goals of never relying on a sole supplier. This, it seems, is about to change as Samsung is rumoured to be the sole supplier of OLED panels for the 2020 iPhones. The report comes via ETNews that Samsung will be the sole supplier for the OLED as Apple switches to the Y-OCTA OLED panel for their next series of iPhones. Currently, Samsung is the only company capable of mass-producing the Y-OCTA OLED panel.

The fundamental difference between the current OLED panels Apple uses and the new Y-OCTA OLED is the way the touch-sensitive layer is handled. In the current panel, the touch sensor panel is one of the eight layers that comprise an OLED panel assembly. Y-OCTA instead moves the TSP into the main OLED substrate, allowing for some notable advantages. Moving from an on-cell touch-sensitive layer to on that is in-cell, makes the panel thinner, although the number of layers remains the same. Secondly, by moving the touch-sensitive bits below the polarizer film, it improves overall visibility and touch response as well.

While Apple may be switching to the new Y-OCTA OLED panel for their 2020 iPhones, Samsung has been using the pane on their flagship Note series since the Galaxy Note7. So we don’t expect Apple using the Y-OCTA OLED panel for next year’s iPhones to bring something dramatically different with respect to display features or performance.

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